Jarrah Ridge Wines

www.jarrahridge.com.au
651 Great Northern Hwy, Swan Valley,
Herne Hill, Western Australia 6056
Tel:+61 8 9296 6337




This wine cellar is on the Great Northern Highway and has a fair amount of traffic passing by. The property was purchased with this in mind, as most of the grapes are grown in Chittering, some 75 Km north of the Swan Valley. The cellar door is neat, with ample parking and the tasting area is clean and functional, but could do with a bit more character. Our host explained that they were expecting two coaches of tourist tasters later in the day: I am sure the tasting area would be pretty crowded then. No tasting fee which was a pleasant surprise after recent experiences. We tasted almost all that they had on offer, with the exception of the Rose.

2006 Classic White: $12
This wine is a blend of three wines: Verdelho, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. Undemanding and pleasant, balanced fruit and alcohol, hints of stone fruit. Laid back Western Australian style, well priced, a summery wine.

2007 Verdelho: $15
Good nose, good fruit, good wine. Lovely, clean finish. Apples on the taste. The second best Verdelho I have had in the Swan valley, after John Kosovich, but better priced. Thoroughly recommended.

2007 Chardonnay: $15
This wine is unwooded and the nose and taste were typical of the variety; a touch of stone fruit and almonds on the taste, the alcohol over-dominated a touch. For $15 you can't expect a competition entry though.

2007 Chenic Blanc: $12
This is an unusual grape for the Swan Valley and we mostly know it through our South African connection. Compliments to the winemaker for a luscious, fruity, off dry to sweetish wine. Clean and balanced, lovely to drink and enjoy. Great value for money, too!

Non Vintage Sparkling Chenin Blanc: $ 26
This excellent wine was made in the Methode Champenoise style. Good mousse (long lasting, tiny bubbles) A big, off dry, tasty, seductive wine – will weaken any resolve! Wow. As Honore de Balzac said: Sunshine in a glass.

2005 Merlot: $15
This wine was unwooded and light in colour; typical, but the lack of tannin tells. A competent, light and fruity wine, but for immediate drinking: do not cellar.

2005 Old Wagon Cab / Merlot: $9.50 (on special for $70 for a case of 12)
This wine is a blend of 65% Cab Sav. and 35% Merlot. Fourteen months on American oak. I tasted this wine twice, with a thirty minute interval: despite its light colour, the wine has some grip and feels like it has the legs to last a few years yet. The taste is pleasant but undemanding, good medium quality. Well priced: at the current special – a bargain!

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon $15
A competent wine; typical nose and taste; some licorice flavours detected. An unremarkable medium to better quality wine, but priced to sell. Drink now.

2004 Shiraz: $15
A solid Shiraz; a good wine, well integrated; minerals on the nose and a slightly salty (mineral?) after-taste, perhaps the biggest influence of the West Australian soil? Balanced alcohol. No champion, but a cut above your quaffing wine and good value for money.

2006 Shiraz Reserve $ 26 ea or $140 for a 6-pack
Soft and smooth. This wine is juicy and succulent and chewy; beautiful. 18.5 out of 20. I want ye, I need ye, oh baby, oh baby. Not cheap, but one of the better ones.

2004 Cabernet / Viognier Reserve $26
The addition of 6% Viognier, a white grape, did something magical to this blend: somehow it enhanced the fruit of the red! 14 months in oak (mixed American and French) resulted in a big, happy, juicy wine. Gorgeous, not cheap, but recommended.

Non Vintage Tawny Port A$16
Competent port; but not in the Portuguese “Port” style. Why not simply call it “Fortified Shiraz”? The alcohol is nicely integrated with the fruit and the wine is eminently drinkable; but it should preferably be enjoyed in the next few years as my impression was that it will probably will not cellar well enough to lay down.

Verdict: Jarrah Ridge most pleasantly surprised us. Nigel looked after us very well, and was very knowledgeable. Jarrah Ridge will do well commercially: they have a great location, longer opening hours, and anyone coping with coach loads of guzzlers - yet not so commercial they won’t give the time of day to amateur tasters like ourselves - must be doing a lot of things right. The absence of a tasting fee made us feel as welcome as the free cheese and olive nibbles that were provided as a matter of course; their good, solid wines and extensive range are bound to please. We spent a full hour tasting and it was as if we were but twenty minutes. Most thoroughly recommended.

Special Notice

There is a magical time of year when wineries have to make space for the new vintage. In the Swan Valley that time is in July. Bargains are to be had. Go to the Swan Valley now – and if you can spend more than two hundred dollars or so: HAGGLE. Specials abound – wine drinkers of the world, unite!

Swan Valley Wines

www.swanvalleywines.com.au
261 Haddrill Road
Baskerville WA 6056
Phone: +61 8 9296 1501

Our visit here started in the perfect way; no parking for coaches! A small vineyard that is a family concern, with the husband and wife administering the tasting and all other areas of the winery. The proud father was pushing his son’s first wine (he recently trained up as a winemaker) and we couldn’t but help wanting them to succeed.

The tasting area is intimate, accommodating a maximum of 10 bodies in comfort: with 7 tasters in attendance at the time it was getting a bit cramped. Swan Valley Wines is famous for their chocolate port and we will get to that shortly. They have a rather extensive range, including some fruity wines that we regrettably did not get round to tasting, but what an excellent excuse to return!

But which of the wines did we taste?

2007 Semillon $15
This wine is off-dry with good body, fruity and a relatively light 12.9% alcohol content. We found this a pleasing wine, good with food or on its own. Recommended.

2007 Unwooded Chardonnay: $15
An uncomplicated wine, this is a very decent offering with a good solid nose and an excellent example of the current fashion. The alcohol still dominates a bit, but give it another year to integrate.

2003 Grenache: $15
Grenache is one of those special wines that does not age well. It tasted and nosed arch-typical of the grape; but the wine was at the end of its shelf life and I cannot recommend it for that reason. I look forward to the new harvest.

2006 Shiraz: $18
Boasting a typical Shiraz nose, this wine had a good colour with definite hints of chocolate on the taste. I found the alcohol burning down my throat and checked the alcohol content on the label: a whopping 16%! I also found that this wine had a salty aftertaste, something I had never tasted before. An unusual wine!

2005 Reserve Shiraz $18
A very unusual Shiraz and not in the best meaning of the word. Very a-typical and not really something I feel comfortable recommending. The 15% alcohol gave it a mean punch to boot.

2005 The Road Bull: $20
This wine has a new label and is made in a completely different style. It is a blend of Grenache and Cabernet. The taste is clean and fresh, with definite hints of mint. This is a good wine, with good integration between alcohol and fruit, a balanced wine. Yes! The owners can be very proud of their son for producing such an excellent first wine.

2006 White Port: $15
This wine has a fruit-salad nose and despite its sweetness and hefty alcohol levels comes across as light and pleasant. Well priced too, and as such definitely recommended.

NV Chocolate Reserve: $23
Swan Valley Wines is famous for this blend of ports flavoured with a cocoa extract. The wine is lusciously chocolaty, nicely alcoholic and comes across full and deep. It certainly was popular with our fellow-tasters, who bought three bottles on the spot. Recommended.

Verdict: An unpretentious winery that makes no excuses for what it is. The winery should be making some exciting new inroads with the new winemaker on board and although it is understandable that they want to offload their existing older stock, it is not the best idea to advertise these as premium wines. The Road Bull indicates a new direction – that wine struck us as innovative, modern, unusual and definitely a reason for coming back. The ports are good drinking, but not for the purists wanting a typical Portuguese style. Overall: well worth a visit!

The Twisted Vine

www.thetwistedvine.com.au
247 Haddrill Road
Baskerville WA 6056
Phone: +61 (08) 9296 1348

The Twisted Vine used to be called Baskerville Wines but due to a change in ownership, the new management decided to rename the vineyard. It has a lovely outside dining area with a standard menu that is a little bit too expensive for my taste specializing in platters for two. They also ask a fee for tasting their wines ($5 for six wines) which was disappointing, and the tasting area seemed a bit cramped since as it occupies a corner of the restaurant.

2006 Classic Dry White A$ 19.80
The nose was very delicate and hard to pick up. The winery’s flowery description of this offering raised false expectations. It had a strong after-burn.

2006 Unwooded Chardonnay $19.80
A pleasing drink, meant to be savoured and light enough to satisfy most lighter style white drinkers.

2006 Rose/Rouge $20.00
Made from Chenin Blanc. Good colour, sweeter in style, kool-aid flavours. Pricey for what you get.

2006 Cabernet/Shiraz $23.00
This wine had some body, but again the after-burn was overpowering. Unfortunately better has been done for cheaper.

2006 Cabernet/Merlot $ 22.00
The best that Twisted Vine offered us on the day, but it seemed a bit light in colour, suggesting that it should be drunk soon. It had a lovely fruity nose, but little grip. The integration between fruit and alcohol was pretty good.

2006 Oscar Gold $ 22.00
When the owner confides that some of his patrons have confused this wine with water, I was alarmed. It has a watery look, but it is a very sweet wine and is good for after dinner drinks. It doesn’t demand much and is best suited for those social occasions when what you are drinking is of secondary concern.

Verdict: This vineyard has clearly gone through some rough times. Costly tastings and a premium price range restaurant will certainly assist the cash flow. Unfortunately, having wines that often barely qualify as “fillers” in a region abounding with excellent, value for money wines, cannot help their cause. I’d give this one a miss.